Ole!

We had a GREAT time in Mexico! Everything was wonderful & it all went off without a hitch! Aubrey travels much better than anticipated. Makes me more confident in traveling with a little one.

We headed out to Mexico early Monday morning (7/6). We met my parents & grandparents in ATL before boarding the plane for Cancun. Mom, Aubrey & I sat together, the row in front of G-mom & G-pop. Dad & Paul sat a few rows back. Despite the benadryl & waking up at 3am, Aubrey did NOT sleep on the plane (except for a VERY SHORT cat nap). But she was pleasant & well-behaved... for a 14m old!

We arrived at our resort right around lunch time. We were able to get a room right next to mom & dad, which was helpful. The resort was BEAUTIFUL!!! The rooms were HUGE! Very clean. OCEAN VIEW!!! The pools were nice. The food was D-LISH!!! Everyone was so nice.

We spent most of our days at the pool. We managed to monopolize an area close to the pool, beach & bar (VERY important). We went down to wade in the ocean a few times during the day. It was quite rough, for me. But Paul & Doc took the baby into the water... She LOVED it!!! They even had water slides at the resort, which was a blast. We went into town one afternoon for a little shopping. We ate dinner at just about all the restaurants in the resort -- the steakhouse (where we celebrated Aunt Net's B~day) & the mexican restaurants were my favorite. But all the food was great!

We got to spend some time with Net & Bill, Billy, Sam & Brenna, Nona & Doc, & my grandparents -- which was the best part of the trip! They all got LOTS of Aubrey time. Hopefully, we'll be able to continue to see our dislocated family at least twice a year.

As all good things do, our vacay ended. 5 short days later, we found ourselves back on a plane headed to the USA. Aubrey napped through take off -- eventhough Paul, her & I were sitting right over the engine. Once we were in the air, Doc took her to sit with him. We didn't see her again until we arrived in ATL. After getting thru security & customs, we said a quick good-bye before Nona, Doc, G-mom & Gpop had to run to make their connecting flight to BWI.

It was really a wonderful time. The weather was beautiful. The trip was quite relaxing. We can't wait to do it again!!!

Aubrey's Birthday 4/2009

"Happy Birthday Nona!"


Dinner @ Rhineharts -- Bring on the Rock Shrimp!


Happy Birthday to ME!!!!


Birthday Princess


Yummy! Birthday Cake!

Where's the brake???

I feel like I've been going a million miles an hour for a l-o-n-g time! We've been so busy! Even when we have "lazy" days at home, I'm unpacking, putting away or cleaning up. & I feel like I haven't made much progress... Not sure how my mother managed to do this so often & not totally lose her mind!

We DID have a great Memorial Day weekend. Mom & dad came for a visit. I had the guest room all ready for them. It was nice to be able to use that space. I think Mom & Dad liked it too. They got tons of "baby" time. Aubrey was even looking for them after they left! We did some shopping & LOTS of eating! It was kind of like being on a cruise. LOL It was a nice relaxing visit. Too bad we couldn't keep on relaxing!

I have about 6 big boxes left to unpack. I just can't bring myself to do it. I'm so tired of it! Our front spare bedroom has become a "catch all." We did manage to sell some stuff, turn our 2 car garage into a 2 car garage! We had all our excess on Paul's side of the garage. Now there's room for his truck. I'm anxious to get the front spare bedroom cleared of everything except for Aubrey's "big girl" bed. It's just going to take some time.

I've been super busy with work. We've gotten very busy -- which is GREAT! I've got a huge networking op in Atlanta next Tuesday evening. I may go to Florida or Chicago for 3-4 days for a certification (hoping to put that off until after Mexico). I'm on a new committee for the Women's Center of Excellence. What a whirlwind! And, my real full time job (ie MOMMY) is getting much busier as Aubrey's becoming more mobile.

Aubrey will be walking VERY soon. She's cruising all over the place. She'll let go. If you walk next to her, you only have to hold 1 hand. If she could only get 2 concepts... #1 She needs to stop looking at her feet. But she is so fascinated with them. #2 Stop leading with her fat little belly! She falls everytime! LOL It is so funny! She talks non-stop. No "words" yet, but that's not too far off either. She's begun to form relationships with people outside her family. She even has 2 BFFs (Shout out to Anna Grace & Lilly!).

Aubrey started a new school this week. Its more of a preschool than a daycare. They have lesson plans even for the 1 year olds. They are quite structured. They kids are on a schedule. The have learning time, arts & crafts, & recess. As they get older, they add music class (instruments!) & computer class. Aubrey is still adjusting, but I doubt it will take long! She loves other children.

Paul is staying on the road with work. School is keeping him busy as well. The spring quarter is almost over. He won't take any classes for the summer quarter. He'll start the EMT Basic curricullum in Sept. We're hoping for "numbers" and a spot on an ambulance by Jan '10!!!

We will be spending out summer vacay in Mexico!!! I can't wait! I'm hoping by than, I will have found the breaks & applied them! I just want to kick back & relax. Enjoy some sun & drinks & time with the fam. It will be a nice time. All of my family is going. We will be going to Virginia in Sept for the big wedding (Justin & Sarah). We are so excited! But JEEZ! its about time! Psst! Aubrey needs another cousin -- hint hint.

Well, I guess I've gone on long enough. I know I've been promising pics &, once again, I blog with out them. I will try try try to get some posted soon. Aubrey is growing so quick. If any us of us blink, we'll miss it!

2 Busy 2 Blog

We have been so busy I haven't had much time for blogging!

Aubrey had her big 1st birthday! She turned 1 year old on 4/30/09. My parents, Justin & Sarah came to town & arrived on Aubrey's birthday. We spent that evening celebrating at Rhineharts (Mmmmmm... Rock shrimp!). The next day was my mom's birthday. We went bowling that afternoon and than to Villa Europa for dinner (Mmmmmm... Lasagna!). The next day was Aubrey's first birthday party! We had a great time! We had a cookout at my in-laws. Quite of few of our family and friends (both local & OOT) were there. Lots of food & beer & way too many presents!!! Aubrey had no problem sleeping THAT night. She was pooped. My family hit the road on Sunday morning after a big breakfast at Cracker Barrel (Mmmmmm... biscuits!). We thought some down time was in our near future. Boy were we WRONG!

I thought I'd have plenty of time to catch up on things while we were between homes, but that time was much shorter than anticipated. We closed on our new house on 5/8!!! We've been living there for exactly 10 days. The boxes are slowly starting to disappear. Closets and shelves are quickly filling up. Furniture is finding a home (sometimes after several different relocations). And the house is beginning to feel "lived in." We absolutely love it!

We are slowly settling in. Its difficult to get the house in order with a clingy 1-year-old. We are very thankful to our friends Krysti & Glen for all there help (& they have 1-year-old twins). Glen helped Paul unload our PODS. Krysti helped me unpack the kitchen -- which was a HUGE help. I'm sorry to say we'll be returning the favor much too soon. They will be moving to Charleston, SC in the next 1-2 months. :(

So, as our house regains a semblance of normalcy and organization, I will blog more frequently. I hope to post some pics of the big birthday bash & "completed" photos of the house. Don't know how soon that will be though. In 7 weeks, we'll be headed to MEXCIO!!!! I can't wait!

PS -- Our new address will be mailed to you all shortly! Keep an eye out for it!
PSS -- Look for us on skype!

House Progress

As I promised, here are some new pix of the house. Of course, these were taken a few weeks ago. A lot more has been done since than. The builder is really pushing for closing by 5/15!!! That would be wonderful!!! I will have some new pix this weekend & will post next week. We've got Aubrey's big 1st Bday this weekend, so I will post some pix of the party also. My parents will be in town tomorrow morning so we've got a LONG but super fun weekend plan. We can't wait!!!


Front of the house with stone facade & hardy (hardy is painted BM "Jackson Tan")


Formal Dining Room with wainscoting (painted Behr "Shortgrass Prairie")


Master Bed Sitting Room (painted BM "Monroe Bisque")


Great Room with stone gas fireplace (painted BM "Man on the Moon")


Kitchen with Mahogany 50/50 Stain cabinets (countertops not yet installed, still waiting doors & hardware, walls painted BM "Man on the Moon")


Bonus room (Painted BM "Man on the Moon")

Will it be done?

The rumor is... Our house will be complete by 5-8-09. This moves our closing up to 5-15-09 or sooner -- depending on the inspection. Woo hoo!!! We can't wait!

I will post some "progress" pix soon. We are without our wireless connection, so its not as convenient. But I'll see what I can do about that. I'll give you a run down of the progress anyway.

Cabinets are in. The stained cabinets in the Kitchen look beautiful! The color is really nice. I can't wait to see it with the hard wood floors. we have white in the bathrooms. It looks very clean & crisp with the white marble countertops.

Granite countertops (kitchen) will go in next week. Marble countertops in all 3 bathrooms are in. The look nice.

Stone facade is up. Looks so rustic -- just what we were going for!

Paint is done -- inside & out. & it looks great!!! The color scheme is awesome! & the exterior color (which we were worried about) turned out perfect with the stone facade. Small problem -- the painters painted the rustic wood columns. AAH! They tried sanding them, but there's still some white left in the grooves. So they have to be replaced. Our builder is taking care of it though.

Lighting is up. We picked out all our lights last week. They were installed yesterday. I haven't had a chance to see them yet. But I'm sure they look great!

Tile is laid so all bathrooms & laundry flooring is done. Now waiting on hard woods & carpet.

We're still waiting on bathroom & kitchen fixtures, sprinklers systems, driveway, garage door, & privacy fence. But its coming along nicely & very fast!!! I'll try to get some pictures up this weekend. I've got to find some free wi-fi!

Lots has happened in 2 short weeks

My last blog was right after we put the house on the market. A lot has happened since then. So much so fast!!! Whew! Makes me tired just thinking about it. Here's what's been going on since the house went on the market on 3/17... It sold! The very 1st person to see it put a contract on it the same day for FULL ASKING PRICE! That really lit a fire under us to figure out what we were going to do about a home.

We were REALLY considering Gary Shaw, but Ron Janelle with IDK Homes is AWESOME!!! & he's willing to work within our budget (on the high end but still within our budget). We've been in some of his homes & talked with some of the home owners. They all seem very pleased. He's a great guy. Honest. Easy to work with. So, our house is being built! We'll be living in Chastain Place. Great neighborhood -- sidewalks, clubhouse, pool, HOA. We've already met our neighbors!!! Projected closing date: 5/22/09.

Aside from packing our lives into boxes & trying to decide what we can't live without (it will accompnay us to Paul's parents house), we're trying to ready our "old" house & make decisions on the new. Let's start with the old...

We had our home inspection. It went well. We had to make some MINOR repairs to the roof (lose shingles). Some repairs are needed to the back of the house (masonite). We have hired someone to address this. Other than that, nothing else needs to be done but moving our stuff out. The POD is in the driveway & our friends will congregate on 4/11 to move it all out... just in time for Aubrey's 1st Easter! We got a good bill of health from the termite inspection. Haven't heard anything back from the appraisal. We close on 4/16. We are very pleased with how smoothly things are working out, thus far.

The new house... Lots of decisions. The house started as 3 Bedrooms + bonus room upstairs, 2 bath. But we added a 3rd bath upstairs. This will be perfect for when my parents visit & then for Aubrey when she's older. We've been making all sorts of decisions (carpet, tile, countertops,etc). It slowly coming along. We'll need to get a few new pieces of furniure for all the extra space. And, of course, we'll be able to start planning for Aubrey's sibling!

I'll keep everyone posted on the progress of the new house. I've added some pix to this post. There will be more posts coming too. Aubrey's 1st easter, Aubrey's 1st b~day, a visit from my parents, our big move in, etc. BTW -- now that we'll have all this extra room, who wants to come for a visit???

The outside -- front




The garage


Standing in foyer, looking into formal dining, kitchen (to the left), front bedroom (beyond dining) & downstairs bath


Great room / fireplace


Master bedroom, bath & closet (the master BR also has a sitting area -- like a 5th bedroom)


4th bedroom